To Never Hear You Again
by Bandgeekwriter89
Summary: While at a crime scene a bomb leaves both Kate and Castle deaf. Story's of the deaf couple just trying to survive in a hearing world.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you for joining me on this new journey! I want to start by letting you know that I will be putting all signing in ' ' apostrophes while all talking will be in " " quotes. It makes it easier one, for me so I don't have to type out the motions of all the signs as they happen. Would take ages, and two, it will help you my faithful readers differentiate between the two easier and hopefully quicker. I also wanted to let you know that, no I am not deaf, so I by no means know everything but I have been into American Sign Language since I was little, plus took two semesters of it in college. Please correct me if I am wrong, or have ideas that would or could make their life easier.**

She waves her hand in front of his face trying to get his attention. The couple had been at a crime scene a few years ago when a bomb went off and took their hearing. Kate can hear some things with the aid of two strong hearing aids but her husband Castle is completely deaf. With this accident, their world had been turned upside down. Castle could keep writing because as he puts it "you don't need ears to write", but Kate, she fought for her job. She tried to convince her bosses that she was fit for the job. That she could continue to work crime scenes and speak for the dead, even if she couldn't speak herself.

'What?' Castle signs furrowing his brow as he moves his hands in front of her.

'TV to loud!' Kate can hear the TV and she knows he can't. That's why he has it up. He likes to think he can. Rolling his eyes, he reaches for the remote and turns it down like he was told.

'Can you not read subtitles?' Her raspy voice groans as she finishing signing and points to the words on the TV. Castle ignores her turning back to his show. Seeing the lights flicker Kate gets up and slowly walks to the phone picking up the TTY and starting to type. It was Lanie, and she wondered why she did not just text her. All her friends knew to send her text messages as they were easier to deal with. Adding to the pile of eye rolls she sighs and types on the keyboard telling the receiver to tell Lanie to just text her. Moments later her phone is blinking and buzzing and driving Castle insane. Getting up he grabs the phone and walks into the other room angrily and shoves it at Kate.

'Answer!' He signs the madness in his face quite evident. Taking the phone, she checks the message and quickly replies to Lanie, giving her a yes to a girls night. The two had not had one in a while and with the way Castle was acting tonight she was ready for a girls night.

'Lanie-I-girl night' she signs with one hand showing him her phone with the other. He's nodding an ok as he leans in for a kiss. Pulling away moments later he signs an 'I love you' leaning in for another kiss. Signing an 'I love you' back Kate pulls away and looks into her husband's eyes. They need to go to bed soon because Kate has work in the morning but she knows Castle will stay up all night blaring the TV and Kate will get no sleep because even in the bedroom she can hear the hum of the TV with her hearing aids. She wants to take them out at night, but she's afraid her alarm won't work and she will be late for work, or worse, not hear the smoke alarm. Their home has been deaf proof since about two years now when they found out that their hearing would not be getting any better. There had been a chance that one or both of them might regain their hearing but as you can tell that did not happen. She has no need to worry because the house is deaf proof, but she does. When her alarm goes off the lights flicker, and the bed vibrates. I don't know many people that wouldn't sleep through that. It did not take long for the couple to learn sign language. Even less time for her friends to learn and continue to learn some basic signs. Lanie was the best. She's learned a whole bunch of signs and phrases to keep in touch with Kate, although when going out the two just liked to use a chat app and text each other back and forth. It made it easier so the pair could chat faster and more accurately.

Letting go of her husband Kate walks back over to the TV and turns it off. She wants to bring Castle to bed with her. She wants him to not stay up all night like he has been. She knows he does it because deep down inside he still is hurt at the fact the two had lost their hearing. He knows he's deaf but sometimes he thinks he's not and tries to turn the TV or computer up to see if he can change his hearing. That maybe closing his eyes and wishing will work. Pulling on her husband she drags him to bed and quickly changes before climbing in. Turning off the lights Kate snuggles next to Castle trying to get herself to sleep. She knew it wouldn't take long for her to fall asleep because she had, had a long day at work. Finally last year after being put on a case temporarily Kate showed them she had what it takes to get her job back. Captain Gates' main concern was communicating during an interrogation, but Kate showed that was no issue. Since being a cop Kate had learned to read lips at an early age, she could hear low tones with her hearing aids and most definitely could yell at a perp with her raspy voice. Kate had been tested with this case; it was a pretty big one. Gates had figured she could do it but wanted to make sure for real before she brought Kate back.

Finally falling asleep Kate does not wake up until her alarm goes off. Getting out of bed she turns it off and goes to the closet to pick out something to wear before getting in the shower. Pulling her hearing aids out she sets them in the pink case on the counter. That's her clue to Castle that she now is completely deaf. That no sound he tries to make out of his mouth will get her attention. Castle before has tried to speak, and he does a decent job. He's good enough now though that he can order food at our favorite pizza place. That was a big step for him, and I can remember the guy at the counter who we've known for a while now getting all excited that the two of them could communicate. Getting out of the shower Kate quickly dries her hair and face before putting her hearing aids back in. They are water resistant, but she does not like testing that because sometimes the water in her ears causes the aids to make a weird noise that drives her nuts. Finishing getting dressed she comes out to see her husband sitting on the bed as his fingers move wildly on the keyboard. He must have gotten a good idea and wanted to get it quickly on paper. Or should I say screen. Walking out of the room to not disturb him Kate goes into the kitchen to start making coffee. Once it's done, she bring her and Castle a cup to the bedroom in their handled travel mugs. Kate had bought two travel mugs a few months ago when she figured out it was easier to sign with one hand if the mug had a sturdy handle. Flashing the cup in his face Castle looks up and takes it from her smiling. He signs a 'thank you' and takes his first sip from the mug taking in the taste of freshly brewed coffee. Castle could make coffee, but nothing topped the few times a month Kate was up before him, and she makes it. Kissing him, Kate lingers on his lips before pulling away and looking into her husband's eyes.

'I-work you stay here?' She signs to him waiting for an answer from him. He's a little slow to reply as she's only still waking up but a few moments later he signs her a yes and nods.

'Write' he adds pretending he had a pen in his hand and was writing with it. Kate nods and smiles before signing an 'I love you' and kissing him one last time. She pulls away and slips on her shoes before grabbing her briefcase and heading to the front door of the loft. She makes it to her BWM and gets inside checking all around her before pulling out of her spot. Getting to the precinct he gets out and heads inside. She had wanted to stay home but she had paperwork to finish and she knew a body would drop sooner or later while she was here. Slamming her bag on her desk both Javi and Ryan turn at the noise to see Kate falling into her chair. moving hr chair Kate turns to see the boys and their eyes on her.

'Morning.' Ryan signs carefully hoping he got the sign right. He was getting pretty good at remembering the signs but was still a little hesitant sometimes.

"Good job." Kate speaks, her raspy voice sticking out more than ever today.

'Body drop?' She signs looking back up at both of the boys hoping to be able to read their lips an keep in contact with them. It was hard sometimes because she has to keep her eyes on the two of them just to keep the conversation flowing and for it to not keep staling in-between.

'No.' Javi signs shaking his head.

'boring morning.' He sighs chuckling softly. He knows she wont hear him laugh but he does know that she will see him laughing and know hopefully what he is doing.

'Wheres Castle?' Ryan asks finishing up the finger spelling of the man's name.

'Home writing.' Kate signs back not knowing captain Gates was behind her. The woman waits for her to finish singing and taps her on he back with her four fingers. Kate turns feeling the fingers and looks up at Gates.

"Body Drop." She speaks slowly so Kate can read her lips. Gates has learned sign language but Kate has asked her to talk to her when she can so Kate can test her lip reading skills.

'Finally!' Kate signs enthusiastically. Getting up she grabs her things and hurries with the boys to her car and to the crime scene. The three of them arrive and are led under the yellow tape walking over to observe the body on the ground. Her hand ins chopped off and it looks like she's been shot in the back a few times.

"Five gunshots to the back, it appears they wanted something off her hand." Lanie points out looking at Kate to make sure she had understood what she had just told the boys. Kate nods and sighs.

'What would they want? Ring maybe?' Kate signs puzzled as she looks from Lanie to the boys at her right.

"Highly doubt it," She pauses pointing to the woman's wrist.

"See this? if it were for a ring I would think the killer would just cut the finger, they cut the whole hand." Lanie explains Kate watching her lips carefully to take it all in.

Its later now and Kate is at the morgue with Lanie and Ryan looking over the body. Javie had been out canvasing the area with CSU looking for the hand. They figured it had to be close, unless it was the actual hand they wanted. Maybe to get into some secret lab. They had yet to figure that out.

Lanie had been standing over the body talking about the gunshot wounds and how one was from a father distance than the others. Most likely to knock her down before getting closer and giving her three more shots to the chest to finally kill her. It does not take the team long to find the hand. Not to mention the perps finger prints all over the thing. They bring him in for questioning and Kate gets him to confess not long after. It seems as though Kate's new voice when she yells, scares people and gets them confess sooner than normal. She likes it though because it makes her job easier and faster.

Out in the bullpen as the perp is being taken away, Kate is sharing high fives with the boys and the fact that they closed this case so fast. They had learned that yes, he wanted to use her hand to get into a lab but because the hand was dead the machine wouldn't work and so the reason for ditching it.

—

The day is finally over and Kate treats the boys to drinks before heading home herself. She finds Castle still at his desk in his office writing. She stands in front of him and waves her hand to get his attention before moving around and going to give him a kiss and a hug.

'missed you' He signs at her after she had pulled away from the kiss.

'You too.' Kate signs back and kisses him again. Its late and Kate is exhausted from the day so she asks Castle to save before shutting his computer and heading to bed. She wants to sit and talk with him for a few minutes before fully going to bed but by the time she's in bed she falls to the pillow and is out like a light. Sleeping so she can start the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I'm going to try and not get mad at the reviewers talking about how a deaf person could not be in the NYPD. Just want you to know, I did some research and it looks like, as long as they can pass a hearing test, along with all the other tests that they have to do, they can be accepted into the academy. We all know Kate is a pretty badass cop so with her hearing aid which is pretty powerful I don't see why she could not pass the test. Castle is the fully deaf one. He can't hear a thing so I see why he wouldn't be able to make it. Anyways, bear with me and this idea. I don't conform to the norm. I am always doing something weird and or different.

She's all dolled up; her hair is down to cover up her ugly hearing aid she hated so much. She loved that it helped her hear but hated that it had to be so big and bulky. Slipping on her other high heel, Kate stands and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear out of her face before going out of the bedroom and searching for Castle. She finds him in the living room on the couch attempting to play through "The Last of Us", on his PS4. She's not sure if he's doing a good job or not but by the look on his face she can assume he's not. Not wanting to startle him and make him lose his game Kate reaches over and flicks the lights on and off. That gives him time to pause his game before turning and looking over at Kate. Walking closer so he can see her signs clearer she smiles setting her little purse on the arm of the chair.

'Dinner,' She starts, waving her hand to get his attention again.

'Look at me!' She pouts her hands signing to him. He wants so bad to get back to his game. He'd not been doing so well, but he'd played this scene so many times he was getting better, and he felt he was so close to beating it.

'L-a-n-i-e' She finger spells trying to keep his attention.

'Be home tonight' She adds as he waves her off.

'Go, go have fun' He signs back watching Kate sigh and walk off towards the front door. She makes her way out and down the elevator and to the lobby. She hails a cab and gets in it. Pulling out her phone she shows the cab driver the address of the restaurant she was to meet Lanie at. He nods and pulls out onto the street into traffic. It does not take them long to be at the restaurant thankfully. Getting out she pays him and heads inside to get them a table. It's a pretty light night seeing as it's only a Tuesday and not any major holidays coming up. Being seated, she pulls out her phone and types on it to show the waiter.

'My friend will be here soon' She writes showing it to him. He nods and grabs out a piece of paper to write back to her.

'DRINKS' He writes in big bold letters showing it to her. Reaching for the wine menu she points to the one she wants and then points to the one she knows Lanie likes to order. The man nods and Kate thanks him as he walks off to go get their glasses of wine. Moments later as Kate is engrossed in her phone she gets a text message from Lanie. She thought it would be her texting that she would be late, but no, it was a simple, 'Hello! Look up!' Kate chuckles softly before the text registers in her head, and she looks up. Her eyes grow big as she jumps up and runs over to hug Lanie.

"Hi!" Kate shrieks as she hugs her friend before sitting down. Opening the text app, Lanie makes sure Kate has hers open as well.

Lanie: So happy to see you outside of work LOL. What are you up to?

Kate: Yeah me too. It's so nice! Nothing much, just been teaching Martha and Alexis more signs. Alexis is getting it, but Martha can't seem to catch on.

Lanie: Oh, sounds interesting. I know it can be hard sometimes.

Kate: Yeah I can understand that.

Kate: Oh BTW I got you a glass of wine, I hope that's ok.

Lanie: Yeah sure, I could use one after the day I had.

Kate: Good, Oh and I told the waiter you were coming so he should be out soon to ask what we want. You tell him I want the chicken?

Lanie: Yeah sure, I just need to decide what I want. Any good ideas?

Kate: The ravioli is good!

Lanie: Oh yes! I remember, I think I'll get that!

The waiter comes back out and Lanie orders for the two of them. He'd handed them their wine and left, leaving the two to continue chatting. The two are getting stares. It's not normal to be in a fancy restaurant on your phone the whole time. Kate's used to it though. When her and Castle go to dinner, the two are signing back and forth the whole time. She knows some people are curious; She knows some people are mad because the hand movements out of the corner of your eyes can be quite distracting. Despite the occasional giggle from Lanie, the pair is pretty quiet. It's nice though for the rest of the restaurant because they _are_ are not the noisy couple in the back corner jabbering on and on about nonsense.

Kate: Can I ask you something?

Lanie: Shoot.

Kate: I was thinking about talking to Castle about kids.

Lanie: You want kids?

Kate: Yeah? Is that a bad thing?

Lanie: No no, I'm happy for you. I think this is great, and you should go for it!

Kate: Really?

Lanie: Yes really. Do it, girl.

Kate is blushing now as s he looks up at Lanie. She never thought her friend would agree to such a big thing, but she was happy.

Kate: Thank you.

Lanie: Welcome. Anytime.

The food arrives for the two, and they put down their phones for a moment so they can take the food on the plates in front of them. They can chat and eat, but Lanie wants to give her friend some time to actually get some food in before going back to chatting on their phones. Finishing up half her plate of chicken Kate reaches for her phone and unlocks it opening up the chat app/

Kate: I'm scared Rick won't think we are fit to be parents. You know, with our situation.

Lanie: Oh come on woman, you and Castle will make great parents.

Kate: You mean it?

Lanie: Yes, I mean it. I really do.

Kate sets her phone down and sighs as she reaches for her fork. Lanie's right, but Kate has had a habit lately of second guessing herself. Being a parent shouldn't be all that bad, the part that kills her though is not being able to hear her child cry for the first time. Not being able to hear her child's first word. Seeing as the couple was not born deaf, they know their child would most likely be born hearing. If Kate and Castle had been born deaf, there would be about a 50 percent chance the child would be born deaf. Finishing her meal, she looks up at Lanie sighing softly.

"Sorry." Kate says shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she puts down her fork.

'Don't-Worry.' Lanie signs to Kate reaching over and taking the woman's hand.

'You go home I know you tired.' Lanie signs letting go of Kate's hand and getting up to give the woman a hug.

'You go, I got this.' She adds after hugging Kate and letting the woman get up. Kate waves a goodbye and leaves getting herself a cab and heading home. She wanted to talk to Castle about it but she was scared. Scared he'd say no to something she really wanted, but why would he say no? He's got one daughter already, it's not like he's never had kids before. This wouldn't be new for him. Castle had been a great dad the first time around. She just had to see the facts and be ok with them. Be ok that she would make a great mom, that she had all the help in the world around her to make this something she wanted.

Once home Kate had planned to talk to him but things crept on her and she decided to give her self a few days before she sat down and talked with him. Besides, when she walked in the door sleep almost took her over and she fell asleep next to Castle on the couch as he played his video game. Not even waking her up Castle carefully lifts his sleeping wife and takes her to bed. Stripping her of her clothes he tucks her in and climbs next to her in bed. She's still dead asleep as he cuddles close and falls asleep. He had hoped Kate had had a good dinner and couldn't wait to talk to her about it in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

"GOOD MORNING!" Castle yells seeing his daughter in the kitchen. She groans and gets up to be closer to her dad.

'Not so loud daddy' Alexis signs to him coming closer so she can continue to talk with him. Castle knows he can talk, he'd been the one not ready to give up the fact he was deaf. Sometimes he's still not ready. He forgets though that he can be loud when he talks. Alexis and his mother, the two hearing people in the house, are always telling him to be quieter. To be honest Castle can't hear himself very well so to compensate for that he has to talk loud.

'Sorry,' He signs to his daughter reaching around to hug her. After the hug, Alexis pulls away and looks up at her dad.

'I made breakfast, want some?' Alexis signs watching her father. He nods walking over and slipping onto one of the barstools.

'You see Kate?' Castle signs as Alexis puts an omelet in front of her father. She free's her hands and sighs back a 'No'.

'She may have gone out for a run' Alexis adds as Castle watches and clues in. It's Wednesday, hump day, one of Kate's favorite days to go running.

—

The air is crisp as Kate runs through the park near the loft. She's hot and sweaty but determined to go farther than she had gone on Monday. Reaching the end of the trail she takes a quick drink break before turning back and heading to the loft. The trail through the park and the little stretch of city in the middle is about three miles with two miles from the trailhead to the loft. So, if she runs it all one way and then runs all the way back its about ten miles total. A few years ago Kate would not have been able to run a whole ten miles but now since working out a lot more she can beast mode it all the way home. She keeps on running finally about an hour later she makes it to the loft. She greets the doorman and heads on up the elevator to get off on their floor and finally get home. Opening the front door, she smiles when she see's Castle and Alexis at the bar. Waving her hands, she beams as she walks over giving Castle a sweaty hug. He kisses her and pulls away smiling at her.

'How was running?' He signs a questioning look on his face.

'Hot' She signs back.

'Going to shower, we can go out after' Kate signs kissing Castle again letting go and heading to their bedroom to shower.

Kate comes out about a half hour later in some jeans and a t-shirt with the fingerspelling of 'I Love You' on it. Castle had gotten it for her a few years ago just after the couple had been officially told neither of them would get their hearing back. He figured it would be a nice gift to make her feel better. To let her know, he still loved her even though he could not tell her with his own voice anymore. Walking over she spies him on the couch nose deep in a book. Taking the book from him he jerks up and smiles softly.

'Lunch-Pizza' Kate signs, as Castle nods at her.

'Yes-Need-Shoes' He replies, his fingers and hands quickly moving to sign to Kate before helping himself up and going to slip his shoes on. Grabbing his wallet, he says goodbye to Alexis and heads with Kate out the door. The place they like is just down the street, so the two decide to just walk it; get some fresh air. The whole walk the two are chatting back and forth about things that have happened between them lately. About a case, Kate had a few days ago that everything about it made her laugh. Yes, she was a cop and had to be professional but this case gave everyone the laughs. The way the victim had been found and just everything leading up to it. Laughing the rest of the way the make it to Da'lotta pizza. Holding the door open Kate signs a quick 'thank you' to Castle before heading up to the counter. She waves and tries to get a hello out to get the guy behind the counter's attention. He turns around and smiles at the couple leaning on the counter. He's a new guy and does not know what the couple orders and that they are deaf.

"What can I get you?" He asks smiling at Kate. Kate sighs and quickly points feverishly at her ear with her pointer finger.

"Oh," He blurts reaching for a pad of paper and a pencil. He sets it on the counter and hands, Kate, the pencil. She takes the pencil and starts to write.

'Two slices, 1xCheese 1xVeggie 2xSoda' She scribbles turning the pad and showing it to the guy. He types on the cash register and writes down the total for Kate showing it to her. She nods and pulls out her wallet rummaging for the 8.95 she had to pay the man. She though she had the either dollars but couldn't seem to find the singles she swore she had. Sighing frustrated she finds a ten in her wallet and slaps it down on the counter sliding it to the guy. Castle can tell she's upset and comes close to her putting his arms around his wife. She flinches when she first feels him but calms down when she knows it's him. She's thankful to have him because he seems to know the right moments to step in and make her feel better. Looking up she sees the man count the change and show it to Kate before making sure she had her hand out to accept it. She takes it and shoves it back into her wallet as the man at the counter hands her the soda cups and writes on the paper "ten minutes". Kate nods and thanks him with a rather loud raspy "thank you". He nods and smiles softly seeing the two go find a seat and sit down.

'Feel stupid' Kate signs her eyes drooping as she looks at Castle.

'Not stupid' He signs back.

'Things happen ok' Castle adds reaching over to take Kate's hand.

'I love you' He signs with his other hand.

'Always'

The pizza arrives soon after, and the two have started to eat and sip their sodas. Kate wants to talk to him about kids, but she feels it's not quite the right time. She knows though if she waits too long her time will be up, and she won't be able to have any. She has to tell him soon, but she's not sure how she too wants to talk to him about it. Does she just bring it up in casual conversation? Does she sit down with him and have it all planned out and make him listen to her? Does she do it at home? Or out on a date night? All these things are running through her mind as she chews on her pizza. She'll figure it out soon. She has to.

Finishing up her pizza she looks over at Castle and waits for him to finish his last bite before asking if he's ready to go. He nods and the two of them clean up. Heading home Kate has a soda in one hand and is using her other one to sign to castle. She's become the master at one handed signing. She's also become pretty good at fingerspelling too which is good because sometimes a sign will slip her mind and she'll end up just fingerspelling it. They finally make it home and the two decide to watch a movie. They don't know which one yet but it will have to be one with subtitles.

'N-E-T-F-L-I-X' Kate spells as she sits on the couch.

'Subtitles'

The two decide on a movie and Kate makes sure Castle does not have the TV all the way up. If it weren't for Martha and Alexis floating in and out the couple would have the TV on mute and Kate would have tapped the remote so Castle could not change it. She watches him as he grabs for the remote and she smacks his hand.

'No!'

'You make TV loud hurts my ears stop!' She groans grabbing the remote from him and putting it out of his reach. Castle sighs and gives her a look as if to say "hey! Not fair!"

'No don't start' She groans again.

'I want to hear TV!' He angrily signs back.

'You can't hear like me Castle, we tried this already, tested you remember?'

'Just watch movie!'

Castle sighs and pouts as he turns back to the TV. He knows she's right but he's still in the phase where he needs the TV up. Just to feel semi-normal. Kate's tempted to hide the remote from him but she knows that will just make him more mad and she's not ready to deal with that. He's already lashed out before and it's not pretty. The two are watching the movie when Kate eventually falls asleep in Castle's arms.

 **A/N: Thanks to the people sticking with me on this weird journey. I want you all to know I'm leaving Wednesday to go to Vidcon. We will see what this brings. I may or may not post. Just FYI.**


End file.
